Simulating language learners’ online dictionary usage /Presentation in English An experiment with Grimm Online Study Dictionary French/Hungarian direction

1. An experiment with Grimm Online Study Dictionary
French/Hungarian direction
by M. Adorján

2. The dictionary
 published by Grimm
Publishing
House, Hungary
 online version of printed
dictionary
 (7 Ls:
Hu, Eng, Ger, Fr, Sp, Ita, Rus, Dutch,
 project financed by EU + Hungary)
 “New search options” –
what, how?
 “Interactive” – features?
 A study dictionary – Why
study? What should it
include? How is it
different?
 An online dictionary –
Essential features /
Student practice ( vs.
Teacher requirements/
habits)
 An online study
dictionary - ! What should
it include? How will
learners use it?

3. Experimenting with a text
 Random text for reading comprehension, general
content, paragraph 1. Level: (pre)-int.
 To simulate student dictionary practice
 http://french.about.com/library/reading/bl-
luciea.htm
 Lucie, étudiante des États-Unis, vient d'arriver à
Charles de Gaulle, l'aéroport qui accueille chaque jour à
Paris, 1 million de visiteurs. Paris. Enfin. Ça a toujours
été le rêve de Lucie : vivre dans la Ville lumière, la ville
des beaux arts, du quartier latin, du vin, et qui
sait, peut-être la ville d'une petite histoire d'amour.

4. Anticipated entries
 Lucie ?
 étudiante – étudiant/e ?
 des / de
 États-Unis ? - Cultural info?
 vient d'arriver : arriver??
 À
 Charles de Gaulle ? Charles ? / de Gaulle ?
 l'aéroport : aéroport
 qui
 accueille ??? form
 chaque
 jour
 Paris ? - Cultural info?
 million
 visiteurs ?
 enfin
 Ça
 (a) toujours ?
 été
 le
 rêve
 vivre
 dans
 la Ville lumière ???
 ville
 beaux arts ??? as entry?
 du
 quartier latin ???
 vin
 et
 qui sait ??? Also: where would it be stored?
 peut-être
 petite ?? form
 histoire
 amour

5. Actual entries in blue
 Two modes: traditional
“word search mode ” /
“text mode”.
 This is “text mode”.
 Non-entries in black.
 Surprises, e.g.:
arriver, aéroport, une =
non-entries – all with
premodification!
 Also:
étudiante, visiteurs, petite,
etc. – variants!

6. Word by word: histoire
Mixed-language info:
Hu, Fr. Register or
guideword?

7. Petite – only as addititonal info!

8. Accueille – missing variants, why?
 Student look-up procedure: 1. entering text, selecting
“text mode” – no match, 2. going back to “word search
mode”, trying accueille – no match, 3. changing form –
accueil, yes (see below), 4. going back to “text search
mode” – (sometimes text disappears from box).

9. États-Unis - no, Paris – yes
How much encyclopedic information is possible/necessary to include?
Much more than in printed version.

10. Lumière (main entry): students will look it
up separately from Ville …

11. Lumière (additional info): students will look
it up separately from Ville (unless they realize
it is a proper noun)

12. Possible student strategy:
Wikipedia
searched

13. Beaux-arts = entry
(in word list only listed as beaux)

14. Charles = entry

15. Vient - missing
 Vient – conjugation/
derivation / alternative
forms info?

16. Conclusions for lexicographers
 This is a study dictionary – basic (1000?) words in
(all?) / most frequent forms should be included.
(Yes, the database will be bigger…)
 Also: it seems words were not extracted from corpus
but built from database, they should be stored
separately as entries AND with premodified variations
if premod. is possible (again, only basic cases?, there
aren’t that many!) see non-entry case: l'aéroport
 More encyclopedic info(?)

17. Questions for teachers
 Students using the dictionary – Teachers’
/Lexicographers’ desire vs. reality / practice
 Do sts. realize that the word has variant forms?
 Do they know the alternative form(s)?
 Are they willing to look it up as a new entry?
 …
 A good dictionary, and good that it exists.
 Improvements are always possible, especially online.